The Rising Scholars Program in the California Community Colleges (CCC) system exists to support people like recent 吃瓜头条 graduates James Tribble, Maria Washington and Wendy Fong in their quest for academic success and in their quest for success in life.
Tribble and Washington, both formerly incarcerated, and Fong, currently incarcerated at the Central California Women鈥檚 Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, are Rising Scholars who are turning painful pasts into hope and opportunity.
At 吃瓜头条, they鈥檙e working hard to meet the growing need for both populations of students.
鈥淥ur numbers on campus are increasing,鈥� Director of Rising Scholars Dondi Lawrence said. 鈥淥ur numbers among currently incarcerated students are increasing.鈥�
On the outside, Tribble has been studying while also mentoring other formerly incarcerated and justice-impacted Rising Scholars.
鈥淚 tell them, 鈥榃e鈥檙e here to do a 180,鈥欌�� Tribble said. 鈥溾�業t didn鈥檛 work for us inside, so let鈥檚 try again on the outside.鈥�
鈥淭he fact that anyone comes to me for advice seems crazy, though. No one taught me how to do college. I had to learn it on my own. My enjoyment comes from walking side by side with other students.鈥�
It鈥檚 not an easy thing to learn. When Tribble first started at 吃瓜头条, he would ask counselor Monica Macias if someone would come to class with him, because he didn鈥檛 understand what professors were saying.
鈥淭hey鈥檇 tell me, 鈥楯ames, you got this,鈥� Tribble said. 鈥溾�業f this is what you want, we have your back.鈥� That鈥檚 the first time I had someone fighting for me.鈥�
His school fortunes changed three months in.
鈥淚 saw the results in my grades,鈥� Tribble said. 鈥淢y brain was reminding me, 鈥榊ou learned this. This is college. This is a real thing.鈥� I realized I deserved this experience and that I would make it.鈥�
Others had to convince him because Tribble, now 29, had to raise himself, while also surviving cancer as a child, with parents who struggled with addiction.
He said he has been mentally and physically on his own since age 16. It contributed to him spending roughly three years total in county jail. He was also kicked out of high school and continuation school and dropped out of independent study.
鈥淚 wrestled with school my whole life,鈥� said Tribble, who was in and out of jail before getting clean. 鈥淚 had to learn a whole different lifestyle at 吃瓜头条. So getting this second opportunity to learn . . . wow.鈥�
Tribble, who is now sober, earned an Associate of Science Degree for Transfer in Business Administration 2.0. He is transferring to Chico State to study Small Business Entrepreneurship.
Tribble wants to be his own boss. He feels good about his accomplishments, but doesn鈥檛 speak often to his family these days, though he did have a crowd of family members there at his graduation.
鈥淪ometimes I just want to grab my dad or mom and give them a hug,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 have to be selfish right now to stay in control. For so long I wasn鈥檛 and had no way to hug myself or appreciate myself. Now people tell me I鈥檓 doing good. That鈥檚 all thanks to the recovery process and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without those things, I wouldn鈥檛 have found myself.鈥�
Washington said could only attempt college herself once she got sober, too.
鈥淩ight now I just feel like, whoa, so excited,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople can get their lives back. I do have a story to tell. You can change if you give yourself a break and love the people who encourage you.鈥�
Once she was ready, Washington, 47, put herself on an educational fast track. She earned a GED in less than a year in 2023 and immediately enrolled at 吃瓜头条. She鈥檚 been completing 17-plus units each semester, and taking summer school, to graduate with three degrees鈥攁n AA in Psychology, AA in Human Services and AA in Sociology and Behavioral Science.
Washington, who belongs to the Alpha Gamma Sigma and Phi Theta Kappa community college honor societies, has already begun what she hopes will be her life鈥檚 work. She started working for the Merced County Child Protective Services Department in November.
Washington is amazed by her new reality, since she approached life as a young teenager in the complete opposite way. By age 13, she鈥檇 already done enough wrong to be in regular hot water with the judicial system.
鈥淚 was always in trouble,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know how to stay clean and sober. I grew up in San Jose, going in and out of juvenile detention. I couldn鈥檛 stop. I had my daughter when I was 14. But now I鈥檓 20 years clean and sober, 20 years off parole. Now, this journey, I can鈥檛 stop. I won鈥檛 stop. I have a burning desire to finish.鈥�
Washington has found her purpose and her Native American roots at 吃瓜头条.
She belongs to the Pomo people, but didn鈥檛 grow up on a reservation. By connecting with Isabel Cambridge, 吃瓜头条鈥檚 Native American Liaison who also serves as EOPS Counselor at the Los Banos Campus, Washington gets to express that side of herself.
This year, she volunteered during Cultural Awareness Day and Diversity Day. In her private time, she loves to bead, making Native American jewelry.
鈥淎nd dance鈥擨 love to dance whenever I can,鈥� Washington said. 鈥淚 go to pow-wows whenever I can. I do all kinds of stuff to celebrate my culture now.鈥�
Her graduation cap even featured a design that a friend from the Yaqui tribe created with a single eagle feather.
鈥淎ll of these great things keep happening,鈥� Washington said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 even know how to act. Because of my age, I鈥檓 happy where I am. It was a lot of hard work just to get here. I am so excited. I鈥檓 doing it!鈥�
Wendy Fong knows too well the additional degrees of difficulty involved in pursuing a college degree while serving time.
But Fong has actually excelled in ways no 吃瓜头条 student, incarcerated or not, ever has.
In 2024, Fong helped found the Phi Iota Rho鈥攊t stands for Wisdom, Action, Destiny鈥擟hapter of AGS at CCWF and currently serves as its president. So she was eligible to apply for AGS scholarships this spring.
AGS members from chapters at the 116 CCC schools, and the only prison chapters in the state at CCWF and Valley State Prison, compete for scholarships with transcripts and personal essays.
Six students from CCWF and VSP were nominated for the academic, leadership and service scholarships, and all ranked among the top 10 percent of applicants. Five also received scholarships.
But Fong, with her 4.0 grade-point average and a compelling backstory about her work mentoring justice-impacted children with the youth diversion program at CCWF, proved the superior applicant.
Fong ranked No. 1 in the state and won a $2,000 merit scholarship as a result.
Her personal statement detailed how her life stopped and started throughout her childhood in Northern California. Her parents divorced, and by the time she was a teenager, she and her mother lived in poverty.
Fong became a mother at age 15 and dropped out of high school. Three times, once in the world and twice while incarcerated, she enrolled in adult ed courses. It wasn鈥檛 until she got into the GED program at CCWF that life took a better turn for her.
鈥淭hat decision changed my life in powerful ways,鈥� she said.
Fong aced the GED exam at CCWF on her first try and finally became a college student there through 吃瓜头条 Rising Scholars. She鈥檚 been a straight-A student throughout, while working a full-time job during the day and leading the domestic violence support group at CCWF at night.
Fong graduated this month with AA-T degrees in English and Communications, both with honors. She will transfer to Fresno State to pursue a sociology degree. She wants to get a master鈥檚 and then work with state and local governments to enact policy and social change.
鈥淚 want to understand what impacts people鈥檚 quality of life and find a solution to the problems, namely those within the intersection of race, poverty, and crime,鈥� she said.
Fong鈥檚 daughter is now 32, and Fong, still serving time inside a facility, endeavors to give her love, guidance and perspective.
鈥淚 have striven for academic excellence, worked to be a good leader, and served my community in significant ways,鈥� Fong wrote. 鈥淏ut perhaps more importantly, I want to show my daughter how hard I have worked to change my life path, and demonstrate to her that, no matter the circumstances, anything is achievable. My past poor choices don鈥檛 have to be hers.鈥�